The Encyclopedia of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) that existed from 1973-74 to 1976-77. The NAHL was spawned by the death of the Eastern Hockey League and is the inspiration for the 1977 classic cult movie 'Slapshot'.

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Friday, March 15, 2013

Guy Trottier: Coach and Star of the Buffalo Norsemen

Guy Trottier played his last of 14 years in professional
hockey with the Buffalo Norsemen of the NAHL. Trottier also acted as the head
coach of the Norsemen, a team that finished fourth in the West Division with 30
wins and 60 points over the 74 game schedule. Buffalo met the Johnstown Jets in
the opening round and lost three games to two. The final and deciding game of
the series was a 1-0 win by the Jets. Trottier finished the year with a
respectable 36 goals and 22 assists for 58 points over 56 regular season games.

Trottier played pro from 1963-64 to 1975-76, appearing in
five different leagues, the IHL, AHL, NHL, WHA and NAHL. At the highest level,
Guy played 115 games in the National Hockey League between 1968-69 and 1971-72
with the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. His World Hockey Association
career lasted 174 games from 1972-73 to 1974-75 with the Ottawa Nationals,
Toronto Toros and Michigan Stags.

In just his second year of pro hockey, Trottier tied for
fourth place in the IHL with 46 goals as a member of the Dayton Gems. The
following year, the numbers improved greatly with Guy placing third with 68
goals and tied for second with 132 points, just one off the leader. In 1966-67,
He scored a career high 71 goals with the Gems to lead the IHL, 19 goals more
than the second place finisher. His 135 point placed his second, four behind
Len Thornson of the Fort Wayne Komets.

Trottier led the American Hockey League in goal scoring for
the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons with the Buffalo Bisons. In the first year, he
scored 45 goals and in 1969-70, the final year of existence for the Bisons, Guy
scored 55.

Only two mainstream hockey cards were ever produced
featuring Trottier. His 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee rookie card is valued as a common. The
card had him in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. His 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee card is
valued at a whopping $8 as it’s part of the first set of WHA hockey cards that
came at the back end of the 1972-73 NHL set. Guy is on the card as a member of
the Ottawa Nationals.